Knocked-down glass-panel door



H. A. THUET ET AL KNOCKED-DOWN GLASS-PANEL DOOR Oct. 31, 1961 Filed Sept. 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l 5 5 N H. 5 MT M WJ mwm a m 2 Mr H A J e 2% M Y mw B 2 5 Oct. 31, 1961 H. A. THUET ET AL KNOCKED-DOWN GLASS-PANEL DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 2, 1958 5 N 5 m A z $5 5% 3,006,041 Patented Oct. 31, 1961 3,006,041 KNOCKED-DOWN GLASS-PANEL DOOR Hans A. Thuet, Long Beach, and Harry S. Stevens, San

Pedro, Califi, assignors of one-half to Stevens-Thuet Co., Long Beach, Calif., and one-half to Calcor Corporation, Huntington Park, Califi, both corporations of California Filed Sept. 2, 1958, Ser. No. 758,246 1 Claim. (CI. 20-36) The present invention relates generally to the field of building construction, and, more particularly, to a novel and improved knocked-down glass-panel door.

It is a major object of the present invention to provide a glass-panel door which may be prefabricated in a manufacturing plant, and shipped in a knocked-down condition for assembly at the building construction site. This permits the economies of manufacture resulting from mass production. It additionally eliminates the wellkuown disadvantages inherent to shipping large articles by means of truck, rail or boat.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knockeddown glass-panel door which may be readily assembled at the building site by unskilled workmen utilizing ordinary hand tools.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a door of the aforedescribed nature that is rigid, fire resistant, rustproof and affords a long and trouble-free service life.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a knocked-down glass-panel door wherein the glass panels are retained securely in place, with the joints between the glass panels and the frame remaining leak-free over the life of the door.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a knocked-down glass-panel door which is ornamental and attractive in appearance.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred form of knocked-down glass-panel door embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, broken horizontal sectional view taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view showing how the frame pieces of said door are rigidly interconnected;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, broken vertical sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a vertically exploded fragmentary perspective view showing how the glass panels are retained within the frame of said door;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse cross-section of a frame piece of said door; and

FIGURE 8 is a front elevational view showing the various members of said door in position to be assembled at the building site.

It should be understood that where, in the following description, certain members are referred to as vertical members, and other members as horizontal members, this has reference merely to the particular arrangement illustrated in the drawings, and the disposition of these members may be reversed, or otherwise varied, from that shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 1 and 8 of the appended drawings, there is shown a preferred form knocked-down glass-panel door D embodying the present invention. This door D is shown arranged as an overhead door for the front of a gar-age G or other building. The door D generally comprises a horizontal top rail 10, a bottom rail 12 parallel thereto, vertically extending side rails 14 and 16, a plurality of horizontal muntins 18, a plurality of vertically extending muntin elements 20 interposed between the horizontal muntins so as to form a pair of vertical muntins, and a plurality of rectangular glass panels 22 interposed between the various frame pieces. A horizontally extending base plate member 24 formed of sheet metal is interposed between the bottom rail 12 and the horizontal muntin 18 directly thereab'ove. Prefer-ably, a pair of gussets 26 and 28 are provided for the rear end of the lower side portions of the door.

The rail and muntin pieces are preferably formed of aluminum because of the well-known advantages afforded by the use of this metal, but it should be understood that these members may be formed of any other suitable or preferred metal or other material. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the aluminum members are formed into shape by extruding but it should be understood that they may be formed into shape by other conventional methods without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention. It should likewise be observed that the panels 22 may be formed of other materials, such as sheet metal, wood, synthetic plastic, or the like.

The transverse cross-section of the top and bottom rails 10 and 12, as well as the horizontal and vertical muntins 18 and 20, is identical. Thus, with particular reference to FIGURES 2 through 7, each of these members is provided with a front flange 30 that extends generally transversely relative to the longitudinal axis of the member. This front flange 30 is formed at its midportion with a rearward protrusion 32. The protrusion 32 includes a pair of rearwardly extending, parallel walls 34 and 36, the rear ends of which merge into a pair of rearwardly and inwardly extending inclined walls 38 and 40. The rear ends of these inclined walls are joined to a rearwardly extending web 44. The rear end of the web 44 merges into a rear reinforcing flange 46 that extends transversely relative to the longitudinal axis of the member. A pair of continuous thread grooves 48 and 50 extends forwardly and inwardly normal to the inclined walls 38 and 40'. These grooves 48 and 50 are provided for a purpose to be fully set forth hereinafter. Preferably, the continuous thread groves 48 and 50 are formed during the extruding of the aforedescribed frame members 14 through 20. It should be noted that the rearwardly-facing surfaces of the flange 30 outwardly of the protrusion 32 are formed with closely-spaced grooves 51, as shown in FIGURE 7.

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 2, 3 and 8, the ends of the top and bottom rails 10 and 12, as well as the sides of the horizontal muntins 18, are each provided with generally L-shaped clips 52. Similarly, the upper and lower ends of each of the vertical muntin elements 20 are provided with these clips 52. These clips 52 are rigidly afiixed to their respective supporting pieces by a pairs of rivets 54 extending through the web 44 of each piece. This riveting operation may take place at the manufacturing plant so as to make it possible to ship the door in the knocked-down condition indicated in FIG- URE 8. The various parts shown therein may be readily packaged in an elongated rectangular container (not shown) approximating the length of the longest frame pieces. The various parts of the door frame are arranged in the position of FIGURE 8 at the building site. It is then a simple matter for the workmen at the building site to rivet the free ends of each of the clips 52 to the adjoining frame member by rivets 56, the clips and frame members being pre-bored for this purpose.

3 Referring to FIGURES 6 and 8, it should be noted that the flanges 30 and 46 of the adjoining ends of the top and side rails are cooperatively beveled, as shown at 57.

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 2, 3, and 6, it is a particular object of the present invention to simplify the installation of the glass panels 22 at the com stmction site. To this end, each of the aforementioned continuous thread grooves 48 and 50 are formed with serrations so as to threadedly receive and retain the plurality of metal screws 60 utilized to secure the glass panels 22 in place. With continued reference to these figures, the edge portions of each glass panel 22 receive a generally U-shaped Weatherstripping seal 64 formed of resilient and watertight sealing material such as synthetic rubber. The front surface of these Weatherstripping seals 64 abut the grooved rearwardly-facing surfaces of the front flanges 30. The rear surface of these seals 64 receive one leg 66 of a generally V-shaped, flexible metal sash angle 68. The opposite leg 70 of the sash angle 68 is formed with a plurality of apertures 72 for receiving the aforementioned metal screws 60. It should be particularly observed that the dimensions of the glass panels 22 should be so chosen that a space 74 exists between the edges of the glass panels and the walls 34 and 36 of the frame members. This arrangement permits for thermal expansion of the glass panels 22. It should likewise be noted that the angle assumed by the sash angles 68 is greater when such sash angles are in a relaxed condition than when they have been secured to the protrusions 32, the leg 66 flexing rearwardly when the screws 60 are tightened. This insures a tight fit between the Weatherstripping seals 64, the glass panels 22 and the frame pieces and eliminates the need for caulking.

Referring now to FIGURE 8, the various pieces making up the frame of the aforedescribed door are shown in position for being assembled at the building site. The assembly of these pieces should take place on a clear flat area with the front surfaces of these pieces in abutment with the surface of such area. Preferably, the top and bottom rails 10 and 12 will first be joined to the top and bottom of the side rails 14 and 16. Prior to this time the bottom rail 12 and the horizontal muntin 18 immediately thereabove may have been joined by the two bottommost vertical muntin elements 20. Next, the remaining horizontal muntins 18 will have their ends aflixed to the intermediate positions of the side rails 14 and 16. The vertical muntin elements 20 may then be secured in place. Thereafter, the base plate 24 and the gussets 26 and 28 may be secured in place. In this regard, the base plate member 24 consists of three separate panels, each of which is mounted similarly to the arrangement employed in mounting the glass panels 22, as will be clear by reference to FIGURE 5. At this time, the completed frame may be installed in its supporting structure. The details of such supporting structure are not within the scope of the present invention that it should be understood that the aforedescribed door lends itself to use with various types of conventional supporting structures.

The glass panels 22 may now conveniently be installed. This is accomplished by first covering the edges of the glass panels with the aforedescribed Weatherstripping seals 64. Next, the glass panels will be inserted from the rear of the frame and manually held in place against the rear surface of the front flanges 30 of the frame members. The sash angles 68 are then urged into place against the rear of the glass panels, while the metal screws 60 are inserted through the apertures 72 of these sash angles. The metal screws are then tightened with their threaded shanks engaging the serrations of the continuous thread grooves 48 and 50.

It should be particularly observed that the provisions of these continuous thread grooves 48 and 50 eliminate the necessity of providing the front flange protrusions 32 with threaded sockets that would necessarily have to be in exact alignment with the apertures 72 of the sash angles 60. This arrangement makes the glazing operation extremely simple. Once the metal screws 60 have been tightened in place, the Weatherstripping seals 64 will positively prevent inward leakage between the edges of the glass panels 22 and the various frame members. It should be understood that the aforedescribed sequence of assembly steps may be varied.

While there has been shown and described hereinbefore what is considered to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claim.

We claim:

In a knocked-down panel door structure, a frame that receives a plurality of flat panels, comprising: a plurality of horizontal and vertical elongated frame pieces, each of said pieces including a front flange that extends transversely relative to the longitudinal axis of the piece with said front flange having a rearward protrusion at its midportion and said protrusion having a pair of rearwardly extending parallel walls that merge at their rear ends into a pair of rearwardly and inwardly extending inclined walls, said protrusion being formed along its length with a pair of forwardly and inwardly extending, serrated continuous thread grooves which are normal to said inclined walls, said pieces further including a rearwardly extending web integral with said protrusion and a rear reinforcing flange on the rear of said web; clip means rigidly interconnecting the webs of said pieces whereby they collectively define a plurality of spaces receiving said panels; a plurality of V-shaped elongated sash angles, each of said sash angles having a first leg that abuts the rear edge of one of said panels to retain said edge against the rear of one of said front flanges, and a second leg formed with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures aligned with one of the continuous thread groove of said front flange, said second leg abutting one of the inclined walls of said front flange; an elongated generally U-shaped weatherstripping seal carried by the edges of each of said panels and interposed between the rear surface of each. of said front flanges outwardly of its protrusion and the front surface of the first leg of each of said sash angles; and fastener means extending through said apertures into said grooves.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,031,364 Newpher July 2, 1912 1,046,455 Forsyth Dec. 10, 1912 2,632,928 Kaufman Mar. 31, 1953 2,803,321 Fox-Williams Aug. 20, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 636,852 Great Britain May 10, 1950 any-e de 

